Steel roof construction



July 28, 1942. R, J, BEESON 2,291,443'

STEEL ROOF CONSTRUCTION Filed June 9, 1941 Patented July 28, 1942 anniSTEEL ROOF CONSTRUCTION Robert J. Beeson, Chicago, lll., assignor toMather Humane Stock Transportation Co., a corporation of IllinoisApplication June 9, 1941, Serial No. 397,307

2 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in steel roof construction.

In the `case of freight cars having steel roofs as constructedheretofore in railway box cars or refrigerator cars, for example, themetal sheets of which the roofs are comprised extend transversely overthe steel frame of the car from one side to the other. In some casesthese metal sheets have been arranged to overlap each other at the sidesor edges and have been pressed upwardly and riveted together at theseoverlying margins to provide a tight joint. In other cases the adjacentedges of the sheets are bent upwardly to form vertical anges which areconned within an inverted channel member and riveted thereto. In othercases the adjacent margins of the sheets are bent downwardly to fit intoa U-shaped cross member or carlin and wedged within the same, beingpositively locked in place by lugs which pass through openings in saidmargins and in said carln.

Various other constructions have been employed, all intended to providea dust-tight, waterproof joint. In all of said prior constructions,however, it has been necessary to perforate the sheet metal in order torivet some of the parts to others, and with long continued use suchjoints do not remain watertight and have certain other inherentdisadvantages.

The general object of my invention is to provide an improved steel roofconstruction in which the metal sheets may be positioned on the metalframe with the edges of said sheets in the same plane and in abuttingrelation to each other and welded to each other and to the framebeneath, to provide a seamless, waterproof joint.

Another object of the invention is to provide a rigid roof constructionin which the metal sheets are integrally united to each other withoutthe use of rivets or other auxiliary fastening devices which necessitateopeningsl in said sheets.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the descriptionhereinafter given of the preferred embodiment of the invention.

In the accompanying drawing- Fig. 1 is a fragmentary top plan View of acar roof embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2 2 of Fig 1;

Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the structure of Fig. 1.

The frame of the car, which in this case may be assumed to be a box caror a refrigerator car, comprises upright members Il) sometimes referreato as side posts or door posts. These vertical posts are arranged,usually in a row on each side of the car, and have their tops connectedby a longitudinal member on each side, composed of an inside and outsideZ-bar ll and l2 respectively, having their upper flanges rivetedtogether and their lower flanges forming a channel member, the innerflange being riveted at i3 to the upper ends of said posts. The outerflange constitutes merely a depending member overlying the side wall(not shown) of the car. These longitudinal members are known in practiceas side plates.

These side plates support the transverse metal members I4, known ascarlins, which in this instance consit of T-bars bent at the middle, ata slight angle, to provide the desired sloping roof construction. Theouter end of each earlin is suitably secured to a so called side platecasting l5, as for example by means of rivets, said casting beingriveted also to the composite side plates Il, I2. As shown in Fig. l,every other Carlin is preferably secured to said side plates immediatelyabove one of the upright members, the remaining carlins being supportedat an intermediate position preferably half way between the adjacentvertical posts.

The metal sheets I6 which compose the roof are of a length sufficient toextend from one side of the car to the other and of a width equal totwice the distance between the evenly spaced carlins lli, I4, as shownin Fig. 1. The edges or margins of the adjacent sheets rest on the sameCarlin, the upper surfaces of said sheets being substantially flush witheach other, as shown in Fig. 3. The small gap or crack between the edgesis then filled with fused metal, preierably by a welding operation asfor example arc welding or gas welding, which not only fuses the edgesof the two sheets to the Carlin but also fuses them to each other,forming an integral structure or watertight seam ll.

The ends of each sheet, i. e., the margins which extend slightly beyondthe sides of the car, are bent down before installation to providesubstantially vertical flanges I8, which flanges are riveted to saidside plates, as shown at I9. The lower margins of said flanges are bentoutwardly at 20, in the preliminary forming operation, as shown best inFig. 2.

Said metal sheets I6 are also welded to the remaining or alternatecarlins at a few points along lines transverse with respect to the roof,as shown at 2|, 2l in Fig. 1. Such welding fuses the under side of thesheet to the top of the Carlin tion is attained without use of auxiliaryfastening devices such as rivets and without the necessity of drillingholes in any of the horizontal or substantially horizontal parts of themetal sheets, the only rivets used being those at the sides of the carwhere the necessary rivet holes are made in the vertical anges I8. Thisconstruction insures against the development of leakage in the slopingroof of the car.

In order to provide for the conventional runway or parallel boards orplanks at the peak of the roof or elsewhere, a series of metal saddles22 are welded to the roof at the desired intervals, as shown in Fig. 1and the boards 23,- which form the runway, are held in place by saddlebolts 24. Thus the addition of these welded saddles does not interferewith the weatherproof construction of the roof as a whole.

Although a specific embodiment of the invention has been illustrated anddescribed, the same is to be considered in an illustrative and not in alimiting sense, as various modifications may be made in the form andarrangement of the parts and certain features may be used withoutothers, all without departing from the spirit and scope of theinvention. g

I claim:

1. A freight car roof comprising a pair of side plate Z-bars arranged topresent a downwardly opening channel therebetween and having adjacentvertical anges riveted together, a, series of castings riveted to saidflanges at intervals, a series of spaced T-bar carlins riveted at eachend to one of said castings and extending transversely from one of saidside plates tol the other,

and metal sheets having'a, length greater than the distance between saidside plates and having a width equal to a multiple of the distancebetween centers of said T-bars, each sheet being supported by aplurality of said T-bars with one edge resting on one of said T-barsflush with the abutting edge of the next sheet and welded to said T-barimmediately beneath said edges, the ends of said sheets each beingformed as a depending flange and riveted to said vertical Z- bar flangeswith the lower edges of said anges adjacent the upper surface of theouter of the two Z-bars.

2. A freight car roof comprising a pair of side plate Z-bars arrangedtopresent a downwardly opening channel therebetween and having adjacentvertical flanges riveted together, a series of castings riveted to saidflanges at intervals, a series of spaced, transverse roof supportingmembers riveted at each end to one of'said castings', and metal sheetshaving a length greater than the distance between the side plates andhaving a width equal to a multiple of the distance between centers ofsaid supporting members, whereby each sheet may have its opposite edgesresting on said supporting members with its intermediate portion restingon an intervening transverse supporting member, said edges being ushwith the abutting edge of the next sheet and welded to said transversemember immediately beneath said edges, the ends of said sheets eachbeing formed as a depending iiange overlying and riveted to saidvertical Z-bar anges.

ROBERT J. BEEsoN.

